


Life's Twist and Turns

by Omega_Squad



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Even Handsome Jack needs help from time to time, F/F, F/M, M/M, Modern AU, Will update characters and relationships as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-04-20 06:01:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4776305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omega_Squad/pseuds/Omega_Squad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naomi couldn't believe it when her boss uttered those two words, "you're fired". Working at Atlas as Mr Knoxx's Personal Assistant was her dream job, but nothing lasts forever. But nothing stays bad forever either, Naomi gets another chance at a great career, with an even bigger salary and better benefits but it does mean she has to start working for a crazed and power mad President. Surely the self nicked named 'Handsome Jack' can't be as bad as the storied she heard at Atlas or at least she hopes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Fired!?”

“Yes, I’m sorry but we have to let you go”

“But… why?” she asks.

“I’m no longer in need of a PA”

“But I’ve been your PA for years”

“Naomi, I know this must be hard for you but there’s nothing that can be done”. Naomi simply stared at her now former boss. “Please pack up your things and your termination letter will arrive in the post, if you have any questions don’t be afraid to call, you have my personal number or just call the office on Monday, but do get them signed as soon as possible.” Mr Knoxx quickly looked down and up again as if he was uncomfortable with the whole thing, quickly adding “I’m sorry Naomi.” After that statement there was a silence, neither of them said anything until Naomi replied.

“Well, goodbye then sir.” She stood up and quickly walked out of the office. She sat down at the desk that she had gotten so familiar with over the years. She carefully picked up an old photo, it was her on her first day. She had her arm wrapped around Vaughn, both of them had theses goofy smiles, both so happy to be beginning their dream careers. Namoi at Atlas as a PA and Vaughn at Hyperion as an accountant.

Neither of the jobs turned out as the two had planned but they made it work, and after that it wasn’t long before Rhys had started at Hyperion as a software designer. It looks like Naomi picked the wrong ship to back up.

She sighed and started to tidy up the mess of a desk before her, she never realised how much crap she left here. Most of it was going to end up in the trashcan, but she kept a few things. As she stated at the last few objects on her old desk she felt two eyes staring at her, she looked up and her co-worker Athena was staring down at her.

“Why are you throwing out your stuff?”

Athena was always one to just get straight to the point, she never wasted any valuable time.

“I… I just got fired” Naomi felt her throat tighten as she said the words, tears were threatening to fall and she didn’t want to start crying in front of Athena.

“What? Really? But Mr Knoxx can barely function without you. Why would he fire you?” Athena asked, raising an eyebrow at Naomi.

“He said he didn’t need a PA anymore… that was the only reason he gave me…” Before she could finish her sentence she simply let the tears fall, and crumpled back into her chair.

“Naomi, I’m sorry but there must be a better reason than that.” Athena looked up and stared at the door leading into Knoxx’s office. “And I’m going to find out what that reason is.” Athena then quickly started to march towards the large doors of the office.

“Wait,” Naomi shot out of the chair and grasped onto Athena’s wrist. “Don’t do that Athena, I don’t want you to get into any trouble” Athena shook out of the grasp. “Anyway what’s done is done, you marching in there and yelling at Knoxx won’t help me. Especially if either of us want good reference letters.” Naomi tried to smile at the joke but it felt wrong, the smile just didn’t fit with her tear stained face.

“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure I could get Knoxx to change his mind, you’re a great worker and you need a better reason to be fired than the one he gave you.”

“Athena, I’m more then sure. I just want this day to be over and get out of here.”

“Okay… Well I guess this might be the last I see of you for a while.” Athena seemed saddened by the thought, she did truly like Naomi and was used to seeing her face anytime she needed to talk to Knoxx, which was quite a lot. Athena liked the routine.

“Yea, but we could catch up or something. Anyway you should get in there the boss...” Naomi stopped talking for a second as she noticed what she said. “I mean your boss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Well see you around Naomi.” Athena held out her hand and Naomi took it softy.

“Goodbye Athena.”

“Bye, Naomi”

Athena let go of her hand and turned and walked to the door, easily pushing the door open and disappearing into the grand office.

Naomi went back to the desk and grabbed her belongings which she had packed into a box and slowly walked to the elevator for the last time. She pressed the down bottom and waited with a heavy heart. This would be the last time she would be in the Atlas building, and she only had one thought, what the hell was she going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's my first chapter of this fic, I hope you liked it. I will try to update as regularly as possible and will make chapters longer than this one, but I made this one a bit shorter because it was just a good place to end.


	2. Chapter 2

Namoi stared out the window of the bus, she watched simply as the scenery rushed past her. Pandora really was quite beautiful. Even in the area that she lived in where it was the hottest out of the whole country. The sun was shining brightly, it was a lovely day. Which only worsened her mood.

What was she going to do now? She had had that job for years, how was she going to pay rent? Her grip on her box of belonging tightened as she thought about the horrible situation she was in. Normally Naomi drove to work but her car was at the mechanics. Great she thought bitterly, no job and no car. Naomi pressed her cheek against the window, maybe with no job she could have some time to enjoy the weather. With a heavy lift of her arm she pressed the stop button.

She quickly walked off of the bus. Luckily her house was not too far away from the bus stop. Her arms were starting to hurt from having to carry the box of belongings, it was stupidly heavy. She had really become that job, that desk was like a second home to her, how sad.

She turned the corner leading to her house and luckily for her it was too early for either of her roommates to be home, they still had jobs that they needed to be at. Naomi dropped the box on the floor, slightly behind her and dug into her jacket pocket, searching for her house keys. Crap, she thought, this would be the cherry on top of her hell of a day, to be locked out of her own house. She searched her pant pockets, her inner jacket pocket. _No, no, no, please_ , I can’t have forgotten them, she never forgets anything. Without her keys she couldn’t get inside, so she just placed her back on the door and slid down and sat on the floor and lifted her knees and buried her face in them. _Could this day get any worse?_

Naomi didn’t notice as the sun started to move and the day pasted her by. Before she knew it she heard Vaughn’s car pull into the driveway of the house. Now she had to explain to them both why she was in a ball on their front door.

Vaughn didn’t believe his eyes as he saw Naomi, just sitting on their front door. It was weird for Naomi to get home before them and even weirder for her to have, what it looks like to have forgotten her keys.

Vaughn and Rhys both looked at each other inside the parked car.

“Did Naomi say she was going to be home early?” Rhys questioned, undoing his seatbelt.

“She didn’t say anything to me, even if she did get home early that doesn’t explain why she is just sitting on the doorway.” Vaughn replied.

Undoing his seatbelt Vaughn turned off the engine and pulled out the keys. Both men opened their doors and walked over to the side of the house where Naomi was sitting.

Vaughn and Rhys didn’t know what to make of the scene playing out in front of them. As they got closer they could hear small gasps and sobs from the ball of a human on the ground. They give each other a glance. Vaughn gave Rhys a questioning look and Rhys just shrugged his shoulders.

“Naomi, what’s wrong?” Vaughn questioned, voice filled with concern for the woman in front of him. He bent down on her right side and placed a hand softly on her shoulder. The only response he got from her was an even larger sob.

Rhys was knelling on her other side, looking at her with eyes filled with worry. he slowly started to rub small circles on her back with his hand.

”Naomi, what happened?” Rhys still only got a sob for an answer.

Vaughn’s eyes fell upon the box of belongings just dumped in front of her. Some of the items had fallen out and he recognised some of them. Wasn’t that the notebook that Naomi kept on her desk at work, he remembered buying it for her when she started. He had no idea why she still had it, it was years old. But why was it in a box on their door step?

He moved over to the box and looked at the contents of the box. He picked up a small figurine of a frog. It was silly and cartoonish but he would know it anywhere because he had one just like it on his desk at work, so did Rhys. He looked sightly back at the other two, Rhys was now hugging her, still in the same position as before. His arms wrapped around her knees, it looked pretty uncomfortable for both of them.

“Naomi, why is this box filled with your work stuff?” Vaughn questioned, not liking what her answer was likely to be.

“What do you mean, Vaughn?” Asked Rhys, Vaughn just lifted up the frog statue.

“Oh”

“What happened Naomi?” Naomi lifted her head from her knees and Rhys unwrapped his arms from her. She quickly wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes were red and she looked like she had had a horrible day. “Because from this box of stuff it looks like you were… fired.” Vaughn carefully placed the statue back into the box. He turned around fully and sat cross legged in front of her.

Naomi tried to respond but any sound she tried to make was blocked by the lump in her throat, and the felling that if she tried to talk she would just burst out into tears again. So instead of talking she just gave Vaughn a small nod, to tell him that he was right.

“Naomi, that sucks. I’m sorry.” Replied Rhys from her side.

Naomi again just nodded, she felt like an idiot, crying over this on their door step.

“Come on, let’s get inside. I’m sure you’ll feel better if you’re not sitting on the hard ground.” Vaughn said standing up and picking the box up as he went.

Rhys stood up too, he held out his hand and Naomi grabbed on to it and Rhys helped her to her feet. She wiped her face again and tried to smile.

“You’re probs right, the ground was pretty uncomfortable.” She spoke back quietly.

“Yeah. The floor’s a killer.” Rhys smiled down at her. “Anyway, I think you could use a drink.”

“That sounds like an amazing idea, Rhys. Maybe the best one you’ve had for a while.” Rhys responded with fake outrage, then turned and opened the door to the house.

Naomi giggled at Rhys and pushed him aside. She was glad to actually be inside of her house. Maybe things would look brighter after a drink.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been slightly edited, some timeline errors fixed.

The three of them quickly walked into the small house. One thing that Naomi loved about it was the fact that it opened into the lounge room, so you didn’t need to walk very far to be able to throw yourself onto the couch. Which was exactly what Naomi did.

While Namoi throw herself onto the couch Vaughn opened the door which connected the lounge room to the kitchen, and placed the box on the counter. Vaughn liked the kitchen, it had a opening in the wall with a counter. Which meant whoever was cooking could still talk to anyone who was in the lounge room and when they did eat they ate at the counter.

Rhys had taken a seat next to Naomi. Her feet were on his legs and he softly patted them.

“Rhys, what you’re doing is super weird.” Naomi mumbled under her breath.

”No, it’s not weird. I’m comforting you.”

“It’s not helping… Where’s that drink I was promised?”

“Vaughn, can you get us something to drink?” He twisted around and yelled to the kitchen.

“Sure, three drinks comin right up.” Vaughn shook his head and laughed, Rhys was so lazy sometimes. He grabbed three glasses and a bottle of wine, and walked back into the other room.

He placed the glasses on the small coffee table in front of the couch and filled each glass. He picked one of them up and sat on the comfy chair near the couch.

With a groan Naomi dragged her feet off Rhys and sat up properly. She grabbed one of the glass and took a big sip.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” Asked Vaughn.

Naomi just looked at the glass in her hand, with a quick glance to her roommates she replied “Not really, I’m still processing it.” She took another sip.

“Are you sure?” Vaughn questioned again.

Naomi nodded her head “Maybe later.”

Vaughn nodded his head at her response.

***

Maybe the three roommates had had too much to drink, they had finished the first bottle and a second and were just starting a third one. And maybe it was because of the wine that Rhys had made his suggestion, and maybe also because of the wine Naomi decided it was a good idea.

It was when Rhys was on his third glass he had his idea. “Naomi.” he paused as leaned in a bit closer to her, he then momentarily lost his thought “Umm. Oh right!”

Naomi was just looking at him, with a questioning look. “What?”

“I just had a _hic_ great idea.” With the wine running through his system his words were slurring and it took him a while to get just the one sentence out. Naomi raised her eyebrow at him. “What if you got a job at Hyperion!” Rhys said that with a goofy grin.

Naomi thought about the idea, working at Hyperion, she had never thought about doing that before. She had always been working for Atlas, Hyperion was the enemy.

From his chair Vaughn burst out laughing, Naomi honestly thought he was asleep.

“What’s soooo funny, Vaughn?” Rhys asked with a hurt look on his face.

“Just, just...” Vaughn paused, and looked at both of them. “Don’t remember.”

Naomi giggled, she loved watching her roommates get drunk. It was always hilarious. Vaughn seemed to become very forgetful when he was drunk, laughing at nothing or starting conversions and then forgetting what he wanted to say.

With a roll of his eyes Rhys turned his focus back to Naomi. “What do you think?”

“Work at Hyperion? You must drunk.”

“Noo, don’t think like that, if you work at Hyperion it would be so much fun!” Rhys’s face was getting closer and closer to Naomi’s as he was talking.

When Rhys got drunk he seems to lose the concept of personal space. He also become less dignified.

“What would I work as?”

“Pshh, I’m sure some high up needs a PA.”

They both just looked at each other then Naomi spoke “Okay.”

Rhys’s face broke out into a smile “YES” he then wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “We can now all be work buddies.”

“Calm down, I need to get a job first.” She pushed him off of her.

Rhys frowned. “Of course you’re going to get a job.”

“Maybe, anyway you’re drunk and so is Vaughn, so go to bed.”

“But you’ve had the same amount to drink as I’ve had.”

“Yeah and you’re a lightweight, you get drunk after one drink.”

“Not true. But I am quite sleepy.” With that he got up and stumbled out of the room. “NIGHT” He yelled.

Naomi turned to Vaughn. It was a funny sight, his glasses were sliding off of his face and he was just dazing off into the distance.

“Vaughn?”

“Yea?” He slowly turned his head towards her.

“I think you should go to sleep.” She smiled softly at him.

“Good idea.” And with that he pulled off his glasses, placed them on the table and closed his eyes.

“That’s not really what I meant.” But it was too late he was already snoring.

Naomi laughed “Goodnight Vaughn.”

She quickly got up and walked slowly down to her room, hopefully she wouldn’t have too much of a hangover tomorrow. It won’t be as bad as the one Rhys and Vaughn will have. Her room was next to Rhys'. When she got in she could he him talking loudly to himself and stomping around.

She quickly pulled off her work clothes and changed into her pyjamas. She then climbed into bed, but before she tried to go to sleep, she decided to look into what Rhys was suggesting.

She pulled out her laptop and looked up the Hyperion website. Even though her roommates worked there she didn’t know much about it. She had heard people talk about it at Atlas but no one really worried about Hyperion over throwing Atlas in the tech world. Even with the Jack as CEO nothing really changed but suddenly he made Hyperion a worthy contender. It had the whole of Atlas worried but they were still holding their position of top dog. But who knew for how long? 

Rhys and Vaughn both complained about the CEO, both thought he was mad. But Rhys had seemed to be infatuated with the new guy. But that was a few years ago before Hyperion really started to get powerful and the stories had just gotten more and more crazy. Vaughn said the guy was crazy, Rhys said he was just doing his job. Either way he seemed to just do what he wanted.

She had heard that he would just fire people he didn’t like. But the weirdest thing about the guy was the fact that people had started to call him “Handsome Jack”. Which just made the guy seem even more up himself.

As Naomi searched the website it was becoming clearer and clearer that this Handsome Jack was up himself, his face was posted everywhere. There was even a tab to buy his motivational posters, which explained where Rhys had gotten his. Maybe that was less creepy than him making his own, but not by much.

Naomi quickly looked in the job tab, maybe getting a job at Hyperion was a good idea. Hyperion was likely to become the new top dog. Maybe this time she would back up the right ship.


	4. Chapter 4

Naomi woke up to the sound of her phone yelling at her. With a groan she rolled over and turned it off. Since she didn’t have a job there was no real reason for her to get up at this hour or at all. With the alarm switched off she decided that she would sleep in, something she hadn’t done in forever.

In the other rooms of the house Rhys was also waking up but he woke to a pounding in his head. To be honest he felt like he had just banged his head against a wall a hundred times. 

He had been woken by the sound of Naomi’s alarm, just like every other day. Sometimes it sucked being in a room near her, her alarm was too loud. How she slept through it some mornings dazzled Rhys.

Even with the throbbing in his head he had to get up. There was work to be done and if he was late Vasquez would kill him.

He throw off the covers and got up. Standing was a different story. It was ten times worse than lying down.

Rhys moved as fast as his body would let him and opened the door to the bathroom. Luckily he didn’t have to go far to get to the sink. He turned the tap on and splashed some cold water to his face. The water was refreshing and woke him up slightly.

He glanced at the door that led to Naomi’s room. He hoped she was alright. She was normally pretty strong and last night was the first time he had seen her cry in a long time. 

Rhys quickly dried his face with a towel and walked back into his room. He checked his phone. It was 7:53. He had half an hour to get ready which was plenty of time. 

Opening his wardrobe he grabbed his favourite white work shirt. He had gotten around the time he had gotten the new arm. So it only had one sleeve. At first the shirts made him nervous he didn’t want people looking at the arm but slowly he began to love the shirts. Instead of making him feel uncomfortable they let him show off the mechanical arm.

He was still getting used to having the ‘robo’ arm as Vaughn liked to call it. He had had it for almost 9 months but it was still weird. He could control it like his old arm but he had no feeling in it. So it was always a shock when he thought about picking something up and something actually picked it up.

The new arm also made it hard to wear blazers or suit jackets. As the arm was chucky and awkward to place into the long and heavy sleeves. That had also made him self-conscious but it was actually more comfortable not having to wear the jackets. Vasquez had tried to tell him off when he had come into work looking ‘unprofessional’ but then literally everyone told him what a jerk he was being. And Rhys was allowed to look as unprofessional as he wanted.

With a quick tug his real arm was through the sleeve and his robot arm was through the hole. He then put on his normal black trousers and laced up his shoes. He then picked his tie for the day, a long skinny yellow one. It matched with the stripes on the right side of his shirt.

Rhys looked at the mirror on his wardrobe door and smiled, even if he felt like shit he would still look decent.

Now that he was dressed he could think about breakfast. With a quick turn he was out of the room and walking the short distance from his room to the kitchen. 

At the kitchen he was greeted with the smell of something cooking. Vaughn looked up from the frypan and gave Rhys a smile.

“Morning buddy.”

“Morning, Vaughn.”

Vaugh opened the cupboards just above his head, on tippy toes he grabbed two plates and served the breakfast for the two of them.

The two sat down at the kitchen bench and looked out to the living room. They sat in comfortable silence as they eat, with just the sound of their chewing.

“We should probably leave, I have a meeting at 9:15. Something about improving the accountant department.” He shrugged and put the dishes in the sink.

“No worries bro.”

They both got up and Vaughn went to his room and grabbed his briefcase. Rhys checked his briefcase which was near the front door. Rhys then wrote a small note for Naomi and left it on the coffee table. With the bestfriends both ready they headed out for another day of work. 

***

Naomi woke up for real a couple hours later. The sun was shining brightly into her room, it was a lovely day. Why was the weather so beautiful when she felt do horrid.

She grabbed her phone off of the bedside table. It was late, almost noon, Naomi couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t slept in so late for years. It was strange and felt wrong. Naomi wasn’t the kind of person who woke up late.

Slowly she started to get out of bed. With both feet solidly on the ground she heaved herself out of bed.

First thing she did was get changed, a simple purple shirt with black shorts. No work clothes for her today. She then brushed out her long blonde hair and put it back up into a high pony.

With a heavy sigh she left her room. The house was quiet. Rhys and Vaughn were both at work, so it was just her. She didn’t like being in the house alone.

As she entered the living room she something caught here eye.it was a piece of paper folded in half. Closer she got she saw her name on the paper and picked it up. She opened it and it read.

Naomi

Sorry about the job thing.  
Don’t worry about it, I’m  
sure everything will be fine.  
Take a break and have some  
fun today.

Rhys

A small smile tugged at her lips. The note was sweet. She tucked it into her pocket and entered the kitchen. She may have missed breakfast but she would make up for that with a big lunch. It was the right thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long time taking to update. School just got kinda busy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just so that you know this chapter has just been changed a little after the original posting as I realized that I stuffed up the timeline for the story. It's mostly the same but i just needed to fix the timeline of Jack's time as CEO.

It was almost an hour and a half later that Vaughn finally got out of his meeting. He didn’t know that there were so many different ways that his boss could re-phase ‘Jack wants to fire us all, so start working better.’

He understood that Jack was a scary guy, but really? Was a meeting that long really needed? Must of the people in his department were already terrified of the man, one look and most ran off like terrified kids. Well Vaughn guessed that the posters helped with the scary boss image.

He remembered when he started at Hyperion. Jack had been CEO for a couple of years but still every few weeks new posters would pop up in people’s cubicles. Some were just close ups on his face with the caption ‘Handsome Jack is watching you’ others were just of him standing with the caption ‘YOUR NEW HERO’. 

Which at first he thought was a strange thing to call his boss but that’s just what people did. The guy just had the power to make anyone shake in their shoes with just a look. It was like a super power.

Vaughn made his way back to his office, trying not to get in anyone’s way and keeping his eyes down. The last thing he wanted to do was have one of his many co-workers lose it at him for bumping.

Maybe if he spent the whole day working he could leave at a decent hour.

***

Sometimes Rhys felt as if the only thing he did these days was look over programs other people had made. He had lost track of the time maybe it had been an hour, maybe it had been 3. He had no idea.

This new program was actually being a pain in his backside, no matter how many times he told the new programmer the interface bugs they never fixed them. Rhys could do it in his sleep but that wasn’t his role in this project, as Vasquez loved to point out.

If only he could take control and actually work on it instead of checking over it, they would have had it finished ages ago.

Rhys know he had been sitting to long when he started to get a numb feeling in his legs. He took that as a signal to take a break, if he didn’t he was pretty sure that he would forget what the real world looked like.

Rhys stood pushing the chair slightly back but before he got anywhere he was greeted by the low and ever so annoying voice of his boss, Hugo Vasquez or as he liked to call him Asaquez.

“Rhysie. Just the man I was looking for.” Hugo grinned at the younger man.

Rhys looked over his shoulder with a sigh, there was no way out. “Hello sir.” He said facing his boss.

“I need to talk to you,” he looked at Rhys and then at his computer screen, which was now sleep “and it seems you’re not doing anything important.”

“Of course, sir.” Rhys answered back. Great, no break for him now.

“Let’s go to my office.”

Saying Hugo Vasquez loved his office was an understatement, he adored the thing. Any chance he had to drag some poor soul in there he took it. Rhys felt like this was one of those times. Hugo probably had some new trinket that he wanted to show him.

Hugo opened the door to his office. He gestured at the chairs in front of his overly sized wooden desk. “Rhys, take a sit.”

This was not normally how these things went, Asquez was being too formal, too much of not an ass. Maybe this was actually important. Rhys felt his heart quicken, his brow started to sweat. Had he done something to piss him off? Nothing more than usual.

Rhys lowered himself into one of the plush chairs. Which was 10 times more comfortable than his shitty wheelie office chair.

Hugo instead of taking a seat on his chair, took a seat on the edge of the desk. There was a moment of silence, neither of the men saying anything.

Rhys started to wriggle in his sit. Hugo had never been this quite before, normally it was a miracle to get him to shut up for a minute.

Just as Rhys was about to say something Hugo leaned forward and simply stared at the man before him. Rhys pressed himself as far back as possible but it wasn’t enough to get him to disappear into the chair.

Hugo smiled at Rhys’ clear discomfort, he loved toying with his employees. Rhys was quite predictable, didn’t take much to make him nervous.

In an instant Hugo slapped his arm onto Rhys’ human shoulder making the boy almost jump out of the chair. Which made Hugo chuckle.

“Rhysie, Have I got some amazing news for you.” A sly smile spreading on the man’s mouth.

“Really?” The word came out more as a squeal than a word. Rhys quickly coughed trying to cover his embarrassment.  “Really?” This time he sounded less like a scared kid.

“Well depends,” He leaned back again, taking a short pause before starting again “If you don’t mess it up.” Hugo lifted his foot up and placed it on his knee.

Rhys was still not sure what was happening, but maybe this could play in his favour. “What’s the news?” The excitement clear in his voice.

Hugo seemed to think on what Rhys had just asked him. Causing Rhys’ to run his human hand on his pants.

“Well you know dear Henderson, the department head.” He waited till Rhys nodded his head. “Well it seems Rhys, that he wants you… to lead some new vital project.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Rhys actually leaped out of the chair and ran his hand through his hair. “This is great, I’ve never lead a project before.” A giant grin on his face.

“Yes, it’s great.” Hugo had seemed to lose his interest in Rhys now that he had told him the news. “You’re going to have a meeting with him in a few weeks, so try and keep your pants and till then.”

“Of course sir.” Rhys paused and then quickly added “When will I know when the meeting is?”

“You’ll get an email from the man himself… Now get the hell out of my office.”

“Yes sir.”

As Rhys exited the office he couldn’t help but to grin like an idiot. His big chance, Vasquez was right. As long as he didn’t mess anything up this would mean big things for the man. Hopefully Vasquez wasn’t messing around with him. Rhys would just have to wait for the email.

If Rhys wasn’t a 27 year old adult working at the biggest tech company on the planet he may have skipped all the way to Vaughn’s office. But he kept his dignity and only half skipped there.

Rhys’ hand was almost shaking as he knocked on the door of his best friend’s office.

“Come in.” Came the slightly annoyed response from within.

That was all Rhys needed and he throw open the door. He stepped into the door and slammed the door shut.

“Geez Rhys, do you know how to close the door like a normal person?” Vaughn said looking at the taller man, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Rhys just stood in front of the desk, a smile the size of the moon on his face. He found himself not being able to stop wiggling his hands around. Soon he would just start jumping up and down.

“Dude. Are you okay?” Concern spreading on his face.

“More than okay, I’m great. Super great!” Rhys was basically jumping down at this point.

“What’s up bro?”

“Just that your best friend in the whole world is moving up in the world.” Every word said with a great amount of glee.

“How?”

Rhys beamed with pride. “Oh, just that Henderson wants to give little ol’ me a quote unquote vital project.”

“RHYS, that’s amazing!” Vaughn got up from his chair, throwing his arms up in the air.

“I know bro.” Rhys grinned at his friend.

Vaughn put out his fist. “I think this deserves a bro-fist.”

“Clearly bro.” Rhys grinning bumped his fist into Vaughn’s.


	6. Chapter 6

**Two weeks later**

The door chimed as she walked in to the mechanic’s. A man was standing front of a work desk muttering to himself. He didn’t seem to notice Naomi as she walked in.

“Scooter” she called from near the door.

The man spun around. His face covered in grease and his hat slightly lopsided. With a large grin he replied. “Naomi, my favourite costumer.”

“I bet you say that to everyone.” A smile on her lips as well.

“Yea, well, maybe.” Quickly taking off his hat he ran his hand through his hair. “You here about your car?”

“Yeah, on the phone you said you needed to talk to me about something.”

“Right, just give me a sec.” Scooter turned to walk to the small his small office and started to look in there for something.

The garage was almost empty, she could hear some noises coming from the back but besides from that it was only the two of them. She hoped that her car was ready, surely it couldn’t be that bad.

Scooter came out of the office holding a clipboard. He handed it to her.

“What am I looking at?”

“Geze, well your car is pretty banged up. I am going to have to order some of the parts from my suppler in Elpis, which is the reason why it’s takin so long.”

“Oh,” Her eyes read down the page. It was nothing but car lingo that she didn’t get or understand. She flipped the page over and found the price. Her eyes widened. This was going to put a big dent in her savings.

“It’s a bit pricey but trust me it will so be worth it when I got ‘er all fixed up.” He said, noticing her surprise.

“Better be.”

“Ha that’s the sprit. Can ya just sign at the bottom?”

“Do you have a pen?”

“Sure.” He patted the pockets of his vest. “Ah, here ya go.”

“Thanks.” She took the pen and signed neatly at the bottom of the page. She handed both things back to him. “How long will this all take exactly?”

“Only few weeks.”

“Great.” She sighed, more weeks of catching the bus. “You’ll call me when you’re done?”

“Of course.”

“Anything else?”

“Hm.” He itched his chin. “No, I think that’s it.” 

“Well bye Scoo-“

“Wait,” interrupting her “You work for Atlas right?”

“Ah, actually, ha funny thing about that...”

“Well did you hear the news?” he asked without letting her finish.

“No…” Naomi was confused to say the least.

“How have you not? Hyperion has only gone and bought the company up!”

“What? Seriously?”

“Yer. I’ve been hearing the gossip all over the ECHOnets.”

“Well that explains a lot.” Naomi muttered. “Thanks for telling me.”

“I thought you might have some insider news, cos Hyperion’s taken everything and is basically closing the whole company down.”

“Woah. I guess that makes Hyperion the biggest tech company then.”

“Yeah. Which sucks. I hate those Hyperion monkeys. So up themselves.”

“Ha, I guess…” Naomi was trying to stay calm but this explained so much. This must have been why she lost her job. But how had Hyperion been able to do such a thing.

“Well pretty thing I got work to do. So this is goodbye.”

“Sure Scoots. I’ll be waiting with a longing heart for your call.” She turned waving goodbye to the mechanic.

Leaving the shop her head was spinning. How had this happened? Hyperion was powerful sure but not that powerful. Buying out the whole company must have been tough and put quite the hole in Hyperion’s pockets.

Was this the reason why she lost her job? But how had she not even heard any whispers or anything from anyone. This sort of thing just doesn’t happen overnight. How had Handsome Jack done something that many would have thought impossible?

Atlas had been going so strongly, at least that’s what she thought. No way were they in a position where they could be bought out.

She didn’t know what to think as she walked along the sidewalk. What would happen now that there was no Atlas at all? Did Hyperion get everything, everything that they had made or were about to make? That would definitely make Hyperion unstoppable. It looked like Hyperion was officially the new top dog.

As she reached her bus stop another thought crossed her mind, what did Vaughn and Rhys know. Maybe it wasn’t real, only gossip. She doubted that though.

How many people were going to lose their jobs, Hyperion would close all of Atlas down. Maybe make it so that it was like Atlas had never even existed.

Why hadn’t Mr Knoxx told her anything? He must have known if anything was up, did he think he couldn’t trust her? She didn’t have any more time to think as her bus pulled up to the stop. Today had been weird to say the least.

***

Naomi paced back and forth in her room. She had to confront Rhys and Vaughn, maybe they knew something.

Her thoughts wouldn’t stay still, jumping from one thing to another. She felt hurt. She should have been told the truth about why she was let go. She needed to know what was really going on.

Luckily for her, her two roommates were just pulling up in the driveway at that moment. She ran out of her room and jogged down the stairs. She stood waiting in the living room for the two to open up the door.

It didn’t take long before Rhys was opening the door. He was greeted with the sight of Naomi staring down at them, arms on hips and a scowl on her face.

“Um hey Naomi…” Vaughn started. Both of them quite confused at the scene before them.

“Sit.” Naomi commanded. Neither of them moved. “Now.” Her voice stern and hard.

The two friends looked at each other and moved swiftly to the couch. Neither of them wanting to face Naomi’s temper.

Naomi took a seat on the coffee table facing the boys. They both had a look of confusion on their faces. Vaughn pushed his glasses up his nose, Rhys itched his shoulder and avoided Naomi’s stare.

“What’s this about?” Questioned Vaughn.

Naomi let out a long breathe before she started. “There is something I have to ask you guys and I want the truth.”

Rhys started to push back into the couch. Naomi noticed that he looked uncomfortable, as if he had something to hide.

“Rhys what’s wrong?”

Rhys’ expression changed from nervous to guilty.

“Rhys” She said again with more urgency in her voice.

Rhys looked her in the eyes, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Naomi please don’t be angry. I should have told you earlier it’s just that I thought I was doing you a favour.”

“A favour? What are you talking about?”

“I may have sorta... applied you to a job at Hyperion.” The words rolling off of his tongue with speed and voice just above a whisper.

“WHAT!”


	7. Chapter 7

It was another boring day looking over other people’s work. It had been two weeks since Vasquez had told him about the maybe promotion and he still hadn’t gotten an email from Henderson.

To say that he was starting to freak out was an understatement. Maybe Hugo was lying. Rhys went back to his work. Wishing that this stupid program would be finished. The interface was still horrible. It was getting out of hand how long this was taking.

Then suddenly there was a small ding noise from the computer. A new email.

Rhys clicked on to it. Heart beating, this had to be about the new project. The email was from… Henderson. Rhys nearly started jumping from joy. This was it.  
He opened the email. Quickly scanning the email he got the important parts. Henderson wanted him for a meeting, today at 1:35pm which was in 30 minutes. Rhys’s eyes widen,   
he only had half an hour till the meeting. 

Before he knew what he was doing he was out of the chair and racing to the elevator. He was not going to be late for what may be the most important meeting of his career.  
He nearly broke the button trying to open the elevator. But he didn’t care. Looking at the refection in the elevator he ran his hand through his hair. Fixed his tie. He then pushed the button for level 16.

The door opened with a ding. Rhys stepped out of the elevator. Acting calm, this was his big shot he wasn’t going to stuff it up. 

He walked down the familiar halls, luckily for him he had spent most of his here sucking up to Henderson. Was he proud of it? No. had it worked? Hopefully.  
Taking a deep breath, he switched on his Hyperion asshole mood and walked up to Henderson’s secretary. With a smirk he leaned on her desk.

“Rhys here for a meeting with Mr Henderson.”

“Rhysie, I thought you had forgotten about me.” A small pout on the girl’s face. 

“I could never forget about you.” He said winking at the young secretary.

“Well I hadn’t seen you in so long.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I mean, that night was too fun for you to just have forgotten.”

“Trust me I remember.”

“Good.” She grinned, eyeing Rhys up and down. “I’ll let Mr Henderson know you’re here. Just sit where I can see that pretty face of yours.”

“Of course.” Rhys turned around slowly and walked to a chair nearby.

He watched as she talked into her echo. He hated acting that way with her. It wasn’t him but if he wanted to get to the top he couldn’t let personal feelings get in the way.  
Now that he was here he started to sweat. He had no idea what was in store for him. He wondered what this project would be about. 

“Rhysie, get over here.” She called out.

“Yes?” he jumped up quickly walking back to the desk.

“Mr Henderson is ready for you.” Rhys with nerves filling him turned but was topped when a hand grabbed him. “And maybe you and I could, grab a couple drinks? Have another unforgettable night.” 

Rhys looked at her and leaned close and whispered “How about we skip the drinks and head straight to the fun bit.”

Rhys could she a small blush spread across her face. “Whatever you say Rhys.”

With another wink Rhys walked away from the desk and towards Henderson’s office. 

He looked the door up and down, his human hand was starting to sweat. With the robot hand he knocked and the door.

“Come in Rhys.”

Rhys wiped his hand on his pants and opened the door.

“Rhys, sit down.”

Rhys quickly took a sit. Before he could say anything Henderson just started to talk.

“Now Rhys, I just going to get straight to the point. No bullshit, okay?”

Rhys nodded his head.

“Good. Rhys as you know Hyperion has bought out ATLAS. This is a huge deal for us. Not only do we have the company but we have all of its projects. Even the ones that no one knows about.” Henderson seemed to be waiting for some sort of response from Rhys. So he just nodded again.  
“So one of the projects we know are in control of is call gortys. It’s basically an in the works IA.”

Before he could stop himself Rhys let out “Oh my god, an IA!” His face showed how excited he was for this.

“It’s pretty amazing, no one even knew about it but if we make it. It’s going to make us a lot of money.”

“That’s for sure, this would make Hyperion unstoppable.” Rhys was getting excited, this would be a dream come true for him.

“Exactly Rhys. This is huge. That’s why I want you to be in charge.”

“Sir, I… this… I mean” Rhys stuttered out, too stunned to say anything correctly.

“I take that as a yes.” Rhys nodded quickly. “Good. I know you normally just do software but I know you can program as well.”

“This is so amazing sir. Thank you.”

“Good. I knew you would do it. You’ll be having a meeting with your team soon. I’ll email you their names and you can get started.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’ll also need another meeting with you soon to go over what ATLAS had already done but you can go.”

“Of course, thank you sir. I won’t let you down.” Rhys swiftly left the office. Feeling giddy he almost started to freak out. But collected himself, he wasn’t going to stuff anything up now.

As he walked back to the elevator he overheard some yelling. Sounded pretty heated. As he got closer he saw that it was Henderson’s secretary. She was yelling into her echo.  
He walked over. “Hey, is everything alright?”

“Oh Rhys, no, nothing’s right.” She looked like she was going to start crying. “Handsome Jack’s PA just walked out on him a couple days ago and he’s taking it out on the entire company.” She rubbed her forehead and continued. “His already gone through 5 replacements. At the moment Blake just wants anyone with a good record to takeover. Or Handsome Jack is going to lose it.”

As he listened an idea went through his head. “Handsome Jack will take anyone?”

“As long as they’re not an idiot.”

“I know someone.”

“Really, can they start yesterday?”

“Definitely.”

“I’ll tell Blake then.” Rhys started to head to the elevator. This was an amazing day he thought to himself. He was moving up and had gotten Naomi an amazing new job… probably. “Oh and Rhys they better be outstanding or Handsome Jack will kill you.”

***  
“Rhys! You didn’t actually do that right?” Rhys had just finished telling her what he had done. “I don’t want to work at Hyperion.”

“Maybe I didn’t think it through but I just wanted to help you out.” Rhys shrugged, he couldn’t let Naomi say no or he was dead.

Naomi put her face in her hands. Rhys never thought these things through.

“Fine.”

“What?”

“I’ll do it.”

“Really?!”

“Yes, I’ll go to the interview… but Rhys who will I be working for?”

Rhys had left that bit out, thinking back on the decision he realised that he had made a horrible mistake signing Naomi up for this.  
“Oh, yeah.” In this moment he could tell the truth and have her definitely say no or lie. “Just some department head.” He went with the second option. It wasn’t completely untruthful.

Vaughn gave him a shocked look. Rhys ignored him and luckily Naomi didn’t seem to notice. 

“Okay, that sounds fine. I guess this could work.” A small smile grew on her face. At least it would mean she would have something to do. “When’s the interview?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! That’s not enough time.” How did Rhys keep making this worse?

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll do fine. And anyway when you get the job, it means we’ll all be working together!” Rhys smile was starting to shake, he hope Naomi was falling for it.

“Yeah, that could be fun. Well... I guess I have an interview tomorrow.” Naomi’s smiled at the boys.

They looked at each other and with two shakey smiles smiled back at her.


	8. Chapter 8

To say that Naomi was nervous would have been an understatement. Since Rhys had told her about the interview her heart hadn't stop pounding. She should have been sleeping but her mind was too busy and wouldn't shut up. 

After dinner Naomi had spent the entire time trying to figure out what she was going to wear, to no avail. 

It had taken her almost an hour to chose what skirt to wear. Rhys told her that it was some high up. So Naomi wanted to make a good impression. What exactly did a department head's PA wear at Hyperion? 

Surely going by what Rhys and Vaughn wore to work each day Hyperion didn't exactly expect a lot from its employees... at least fashion wise. But Naomi did have to wear something. 

Groaning she picked out a blue blouse to go with the skirt, also deciding on a pair of black high heels. It was better than nothing, she guessed. 

She was all ready for tomorrow. Her resume was up to date and printed and she even had it on a echo port just in case. All that was left to do was sleep. Naomi flopped onto her bed and closed her eyes. Hopefully tomorrow would go well. 

***

Naomi woke up to the shrill wailing of her phone. Rolling over she quickly switched it off. Still half asleep she slowly got out of the bed. 

Had she set the alarm at a ridiculously early time, yes: yes she had. But she felt like she needed all the time she could get. 

Heading downstairs she walked to the kitchen. 

Naomi switched on the coffee machine and placed a mug under it. She watched as the dark liquid filled the mug. Once it was filled to her liking she picked it up and poured a little amount of milk into it. She took a sip, feeling the warm liquid flow down her throat. She was already feeling more awake. 

After taking a shower, Naomi got changed into the stuff she picked out the night before. The last thing to worry about for her appearance was makeup. 

She kept it simple but professional. The only thing that looked 'unnatural' was the red lipstick she put on. 

Naomi glanced over at the clock on her wall. Her eyes widen with surprise, she had to leave in half an hour! She didn't even realise that she was taking so long. Rhys and Vaughn had better be up and almost ready or she would freak out. 

That's when she heard the shower turn back on. Meaning that Rhys was having his shower and if Rhys was up that meant that Vaughn was probably up and almost ready. 

For the next twenty minutes Naomi spent it pacing in her room. It had been a long time since she had had a job interview and she didn't feel at all prepared for it. Which she blamed on Rhys. 

Suddenly she heard a call from Vaughn. "Naomi, we're going!"

Naomi stopped her pacing. Grabbing her bag she quickly walked down the stairs. 

"You ready?" Questioned Vaughn. 

"Ready As I'll ever be." She replied nervously. 

"Well let's go!" Cheered Vaughn, heading towards the door. 

The trio exited the house and they jumped into Vaughn's car. Naomi stared out the window as Vaughn started the engine. Not much was said as they drove to the Hyperion headquarters. Each were in their own worlds. 

The Hyperion HQ was in the centre of Sanctuary. Naomi didn't pay attention as they drove. She was too nervous too. 

*** 

The Hyperion HQ stood out from the rest of the city. It was two tall towers. There was a walk way that connected the two towers. Making the whole building look like a giant H. Naomi thought it made Hyperion look up themselves, which they were. 

The towers were taller then most of the other buildings in the city centre. Both were made with steel and glass. Which you couldn't see in but Naomi guessed you could see out. 

Naomi felt her mouth open wide in awe. The building was beautiful. Rhys and Vaughn lead Naomi into the tower on the right side of the road. This was the one that most of the desk workers lived. The other tower was for the scientists and researchers that Hyperion employed. 

The doors of the tower slid open for the trio. Naomi was just as amazed by the inside as she was the outside. The floor was a grey marble. Further in front of the entrence was a large wooden desk. Behind it was a woman. Naomi recognised her. It was Rhys' ex, Stacey. Before Naomi could ask Rhys about it, one of the many loaderbots around the large room stood in her way. 

"May I be of assistance, human." The robot asked. 

Naomi was shocked again. Was this how all guests were looked after, with a loaderbots?

"Um..." Was all she could get out before Rhys jumped in. 

"This is Naomi Wilding, she's here for the interview."

Without hesitating the robot quickly... scanned her. Its eye glowed a bright blue and it seemed happy enough with what ever it found. 

"That seems to be the truth. Ms please follow me." 

The loaderbot turned and started to stomp (the only way Naomi could describe the way it walked) towards the desk. Turning then to the right. There was a row of security gates. Other employees simply tapped their ID on a screen and the gates opened.

As Naomi and the loaderbot reached one, the robot was allowed straight through. Luckily enough for Naomi the gates stayed open long enough for her as well. After the gates there were a row of elevators. Each opening and closing without pause. Stressed workers crammed in. Some talking and yelling into their echoes. 

However the loaderbot walked straight past those elevators. Instead the robot headed towards the very end one. No one seemed to be using this one. Weird she thought. 

Once again the robot's eye lit up a bright blue. The doors of the lift opened. It was empty and It even seem to be bigger then a normal elevator. Another strange thing about the inside was that it just too nice to be a normal office elevator. The handle bars looked like they were made of real gold, the buttons were barely worn and the very top button wasn't even a number... It was the letters HJ. 

Naomi was relieved at the size of the thing, though. It meant that she and the giant loaderbot could stand comfortably next to each other with room to spare. 

Naomi expected the robot to press one of the buttons. However, the elevator just started to rise. 

The elevator rose quickly. The numbers flicking past. The skin on the back of her neck began to itch. Something was off. What kind of department head had their own elevator. Why was she being lead around by a loaderbot and what level were they heading to. 

Just as she was thinking this the elevator stop. However they hadn't stopped on a numbered level. They were on the HJ level. This entire thing was making Naomi freak out. Then the doors opened... 

This floor was even grander then the entrance. The view from the wall of windows was breath taking. She could she the entire city. 

Then she noticed a woman behind a desk, she was moving around franticly. An echo device held between her ear and shoulder. Turning from the computer she would then flick through a pile of pages to then type something quickly into the computer again. 

Hearing the footsteps the woman stopped. Looking up, she dropped what she was doing. She had short brown hair and a pair of goggles pushed up on her head. 

"Finally, do you know how long I've been waiting?" The woman demanded. She was looking directly at Naomi. 

Naomi stood there, not knowing what to say. The woman walked out from behind the desk. She looked Naomi up and down. 

"Tannis"

"Naomi" holding her hand out. Tannis looked at the hand and just replied. 

"Mr Blake is waiting. Just go down the hall and knock on his office door." Naomi awkwardly lowered her arm. She looked at the robot, it wasn't making any movements. She guessed she was on her own now. She started to move when Tannis spoke again "Tell him I'm too smart for this. There's no way that anything is being done without me."

Naomi turned her head around and nodded. What did she mean by that? 

Down the hall again was another waiting room. It wasn't hard to find Mr Blake's office. It was the only door. The uneasy feeling in Naomi's stomach was getting stronger. This wasn't what she was expecting at all. 

She quickly tapped on the door. Immediately a voice called out. "Come in" 

She opened the door into a large office. A tall thin man was pacing in front of a desk. He lifted his head and greeted Naomi. 

"Miss Wilding, I suppose."

"Call me Naomi." Smiling she extended her arm out, this time the man took it. 

"I'm so glad you could start immediately." He smiled back. However, the smile caused Naomi to feel on edge. 

"It sounded like a great opportunity." Naomi eyes scanned the office. It was nice. If he was her new boss... Naomi was in way over her head. This man had to be higher then a department head. 

He laughed at her statement. 

"That's if you can make it out alive." If Mr Blake had noticed the look on Naomi's face he ignored it. He looked at his watch. "He should be ready for you. I'll show you where to go but it's hard to miss." A small pause and then he continued "That's how he likes." Mr Blake sounded annoyed by the statement. If Mr Blake didn't think it was idiotic he would have evened rolled his eyes. 

The only thing that Naomi caught however was that he wasn't her new boss. "Him?"

Mr Blake looked at her, looking a bit shocked. "You know who you're working for?"

Naomi chuckled nervously "Of course. Just a joke." 

"Good, you had me worried." He looked down on her with furrowed eyebrows. 

The two walked out of the office. Blake was discussing something but Naomi was only half listening. The only thought on her head was that when she got home she was going to kill Rhys.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we finally meet Jack in this Chapter!!!!

Naomi had a million thoughts in her head as Mr Blake told her to just knock on the door. Then he disappeared. What she thought was happening couldn't be happening. That wouldn't make sense but who else could this office belong to? There were two giant wooden doors with the Hyperion H carved into both sides. 

This level was actually called HJ, Naomi didn't want to believe that the person behind those doors shared those initials. 

She lightly tapped on the doors. She was shocked as they slid open like electric doors. 

For the millionth time that hour she was filled with awe at the office. It made Mr Blake's office look insignificant. It was the largest office that she had ever seen. Her eyes were drawn to the view from the windows. The entire wall in front of her was made out of them. 

That's when she noticed a grand desk. It was raised up on a platform. With a couple of steps leading up to it. Behind it was a yellow chair, to be honest it looked more like a throne then it did an office chair. 

A figure was standing behind the chair. His arms were folded in front of his body. He was facing the windows. 

He didn't turn around or seemed to acknowledge her presence at all. That's when Naomi saw it. The giant posters on the walls. All of... Handsome Jack. 

Naomi's breath hitched. This wasn't happening. 

"Are you just gonna stand there? Or am I going to have to fire you on the first day, pumpkin" the figure's voice chuckled. It was smooth and rich but with something that made her nervous. 

Was it because of nerves or the command that made her move, she wasn't sure. Yet her legs started to move without her telling them to. 

Naomi wasn't sure if she was walking painfully slow or if time was on a standstill but that's what it felt like as she walked to the desk. 

Looking closer to the desk she realised that it was a strange sliver colour. It was extremely neat, all the papers were in plies. There were two computers, both were bright yellow with black. 

As she stood she tried to say something... anything but her mouth was too dry as she opened and closed it. However, Handsome Jack beat her to it anyway. 

"Sit down." He said it in the same tone as before, there was still something there that made Naomi's skin crawl. But Naomi didn't want to think about what it was. 

She took a sit in one of the chairs, both were much nicer then any other office chair she had sat in before. 

Naomi was staring at the back of his head, she hadn't even noticed that she was fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

Then he turned around, she was now staring at two mismatched eyes. He was exactly like the posters, just as handsome as the named suggested. Naomi could now understand the creepy obsession Rhys had with the man. 

Handsome Jack noticed the way she was staring. Her face a mix of shock and terror. He grinned at the younger woman. 

That grin had Naomi neck hairs stand on edge. All the whispers that she at heard at Atlas, all the stories she had read, the stories she had over heard Rhys and Vaughn discuss and it all made her want to jump up and run away. But she couldn't move. 

Handsome Jack was used to having this effect on people but the girl was handling it quite well. There weren't even any tears yet. He slid his hands into his jean pockets and walked away from the windows. He still hasn't broken eye contact with her and didn't intend to anytime soon. He wanted to see if she would be the one to break it. 

When he reached his "throne" he sat down heavily, causing the chair to roll back a bit. He linked his fingers behind his head and kicked his feet onto the desk. He didn't seem to mind messing up the perfectly placed papers. 

"So... What's the name? Kiddo"

Something about the direct question shook Naomi out of whatever trance she was in. Blinking her eyes and shaking her head a bit she closed her mouth, it felt as if she was gurking at him. 

That's when she said the first thing since walking in. "Naomi Wilding... Sir" it had come out sounding more confident then she actually felt. She also wasn't exactly sure what she was meant to call him. Calling someone Handsome Jack just felt ridiculous. 

He was still staring straight at her, so now she was freaking out and uncomfortable. 

He seemed to be thinking something over. He rubbed his chin. "You worked for Atlas?"

She had expected that question. If Hyperion hadn't bought Atlas out he could have been worried, that she was just trying to get information. But that wasn't even a possibility now. So she just answered honestly. "That's correct" 

Something about what she had said made Handsome Jack burst out into laughter. So much that he was bent at the waist and had taken his feet off the desk. 

This was not the reaction she was expecting. It also didn't help that the laughing lasted for far to long. Naomi started to get impatient waiting. 

Finally Handsome Jack had seemed to get everything out of his system. Naomi raised an eyebrow at him in question. 

Wiping away at fake tears he started to speak. "Just how the mighty have fallen." He paused but then continued "I mean come on, it's pretty funny. You used to work for Atlas, the company that was too big to fail and now you're here. Wanting a job with Hyperion, the same company reasonable for you losing your job." 

Naomi guessed that was right however Handsome Jack seemed to have more to say. 

"It's a bit late to be jumping ship." 

Naomi didn't know how to respond to any of this. So the two just sat in silence. Then suddenly Handsome Jack seemed to forget everything that he had just said. "Anyway kiddo, I need a PA and you don't look like a blubbering idiot. So your hired." 

Naomi guessed she should have been excited but she was still trying to figure out what was up with Handsome Jack. 

"No need to look too thrilled kid."

A nervous chuckle left Naomi's lips. "Of course sir, thank you." Naomi tried to smile but it felt off. 

"That's better I guess." Handsome Jack quickly looked through the stack of papers on his desk. He picked up a large document. He pushed it towards Naomi. "Your contract." 

Naomi looked down at the thing. It had quite a lot of pages. She flicked through it. At the same moment the doors to the office opened again. This time a group of men in suits entered. 

"My lawyers, they'll explain everything in the document." 

***

It took almost 2 hours for Handsome Jack's lawyers to go through everything but they did. The main thing was that anything that she saw, heard or did was to remain a secret. If she told anyone about anything she would be fired. It wasn't said but Naomi felt that there was a 'or worse' with the punishment. 

There was a part of her that didn't want to sign the thing and wanted to just walk out. That was before she saw the salary. There were quite a lot of zeros. The sum made what she got at Atlas tiny. So Naomi signed it. Making her officially the PA of one of the most powerful man in the world, universe even. 

Once she had signed it the lawyers left. Handsome Jack leaped out of his chair placing an arm around her shoulder, not caring at all about personal space. 

"Glad to have you here kiddo." He grinned down at her. Naomi smiled back at him. "Now let me show you around." 

Naomi really tried to care as he showed her around. But she literally didn't care about all the back stories that each poster of himself had. Naomi was starting to see why he had nicknamed himself "handsome" Jack, the guy had a massive ego. 

Luckily he quickly grew tried of showing her around. With his arm still around he lead her towards a door. Naomi hadn't even seen the door the entire time she had been in the office because the door blended in quite well with the wall. Handsome Jack grabbed the door knob and opened it. It opened into, what she guessed was her office. 

"Your office." Handsome Jack commented. 

There was a desk facing towards the door, a bookshelf and a couple of filing cabinets. There was also a coffee machine built into the wall near the back corner. All in all it was a nice office, not nearly as nice as Blake's or Handsome Jack's. 

Handsome Jack took his arm off of her. Naomi walked towards her new desk. Before she could sit Handsome Jack had more to say. 

"You'll get a company issued echo tomorrow." Naomi nodded. Her office also shared the amazing view. "The real work starts tomorrow too, so get settled kiddo." 

He leaned against the door frame, waiting for her to do something. 

Naomi quickly took a seat, and smiled at him. "Sounds good, sir." 

He watched her get settled for a little while but walked off boredly soon enough. 

Naomi was glad as she looked through his files and schedule, none of it made much sense. It was going to take a long time to fix. Who ever was in charge before really didn't keep things organised. 

Naomi set her head down and began to sort out the mess that was in front of her. She didn't even notice the time flying past.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. I think I may start writing shorter chapters and get them out quicker. Anyway in enjoy this little filler chapter :)

Chapter 10

Naomi was still trying to sort out the schedule and files when she heard Handsome Jack's voice. Quickly scanning the desk she looked for the source. 

"Naomi" Jack's voice was coming from somewhere. The call was shortly followed by muffled laughing. "Look at the keyboard" Naomi looked at the keyboard not really sure what Jack wanted her to see. "Press the button on the side with the little face." 

Naomi pressed the button, clicking it down. "Hello?" She asked, hoping it worked. 

"There ya go pumpkin. Was that so hard?" Naomi could hear the smirk on his face. 

"No" She replied firmly. Jack responded with more laughter. "Was there something you wanted Sir?" 

"Right" he sounded as if he forgot that he started the conversation. "You can go home kiddo and since you haven't messed up already you can come back tomorrow." 

"Thank you, sir." Naomi glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost 6. It was way later then she expected. She grabbed her bag and searched for her echo. It was filled with notifications from Rhys and Vaughn. Probably worried about her. 

Naomi got up from the chair, silently stretching out her back. She exited her office. Handsome Jack was sitting at his 'throne'. He was typing away at his computer. As Naomi was walking, he called out. 

"Don't be late" 

She turned around at the sound of his voice. It was sharp and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He was staring directly at her. Naomi asked "when exactly is late?" 

Handsome Jack smiled at that. "Be here at 9 sharp... and maybe I won't fire you."

Naomi nodded at that. Nervously she bid her goodbye and left his office. Walking to the elevator it was clear that she was here much later than Blake and Tannis. Most of the lights were off and no one was at the desk in front of the elevator. 

Taking out her echo she called Rhys. 

"Naomi!" Rhys basically screamed into her ear. "She's alive!" The relief clear in his voice. 

Faintly in the background she could hear Vaughn sigh out a "Thank god." 

"No thanks to you." Naomi was still pissed off at the both of them. 

"So did you get the job?" 

Rolling her eyes at the question, she dead panned into the echo. "No I just stayed at Hyperion till 6." 

"Really?" Questioned Rhys. 

"No dumbass, I got the job." Naomi grinned as she said it. 

Instantly as she said it the two both cheered. Causing Naomi to jerk the echo away from her ear. 

"That's amazing! I can't believe Handsome Jack hired you!!" 

"Yeah, Handsome Jack." Naomi pushed the button for the elevator. 

The other end went silent at her comment. 

"Might have been nice if I knew that information before hand." The doors to the elevator opening. Naomi step inside pressing the ground floor. 

Rhys laughed nervously at that. "My bad?" 

As Naomi watched the levels flash past she realised something. "You two better still be here or I'm going to have two things to be angry about." Her tone suddenly turning serious. 

"Yeah, we're still in the city. Just at Moxxi's." 

"Good, you can buy me a drink for lying to me." Naomi joked. 

"Whatever, you should be thanking me." 

"Never in a billion years Rhys." She remarked stepping out of the elevator. "See you."

"Later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want follow me at http://omega-rogue.tumblr.com/ and just talk if you want <3


	11. Chapter 11

Naomi cut the call. The main entrance of the building was completely empty. It was quite as she left the building. She couldn't help but smile. It was a beautiful night in Sanctuary. The stars were out, strangers walked down the footpath in groups laughing or simply walking home for the night. There was something about Sanctuary that made Naomi feel safe. It was almost if the name truly reflected the city. 

Luckily it isn't that much of a walk to Moxxi's from the Hyperion headquarters. Which Naomi was thankful for. Moxxi's was a bar in the less pleasant area of the city. On weekdays it served as a place for tried businessmen to get a drink before heading home. However, on weekends it served as... well it's a strip club. Naomi had no idea why the owner, Moxxi ran it like this. But Moxxi was nicer than she expected a strip club owner to be. 

Naomi was quickly greeted with the flashing pink sign of Moxxi's. Which also, when needed flashed a pair of legs as well. She pushed the doors open. The bar was bigger than it looked. With booths on the walls and a large open area. Which was currently filled with tables with people in suits and business attire, some with friends, others drinking by themselves what was too much to be considered normal for a Wednesday evening. The bar was opposite the open area, allowing anyone who sat there a good view of the entire place. 

Naomi scanned the bar and booths. Moxxi was behind the bar as usual. Wearing her signature tight purple dress. Which showed off the right places that made her customers more than delightful to shove notes into her tip jar. It was easy to find Rhys, his height made it easy to spot him. He was sitting next to Vaughn and Naomi could she the back of Yvette's head. 

Making her way swiftly across the floor she caught Rhys' eyes. He raised his hand and waved. She waved back. She soon was slipping into the booth next to Yvette. 

"Hey guys," She greeted the three of them. 

"Naomi! You're not dead," Cheered Vaughn. 

"Good observation," She chuckled. 

"From the way these two were freaking out, I thought you had been thrown out of a window." Yvette chimed in, rolling her eyes. 

"Well, I seriously thought that might happen." Naomi commented. "Maybe if someone" she paused, then glared towards Rhys "had told me the truth, I would have been better prepared." 

Rhys shrugged "you got the job." This response earned Rhys a hit in the rips with Vaughn's elbow. Rhys sighed. He looked as if what he was about to say bought him great pain. "Sorry Naomi." 

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Whatever, buy me a drink and I might forgive you."

Rhys flagged down a waiter and ordered another round for the table. 

The four didn't stay at the bar for long. The trio bid Yvette goodbye. Naomi drove them home as she had had the least to drink. 

***

Naomi's emotions were running wild as she rode the elevator to the top of Hyperion headquarters. Handsome Jack had said that this was when the real work started and with no real clue what that meant. She felt blind walking into some sort of trap. 

The doors of the elevator sidled open. Tannis was still at the desk. Looking just as annoyed as she did the day before. Naomi tried to sneak past her but Tannis must of heard her as she looked up from the computer she was looking at. 

"Ms Wilding, Jack told me you got the job. Social convention tells me that I should congratulate you. However, Jack is a horrible person to work with."

If Naomi looked confused it was because she was. Simply nodding her head. Tannis' expression didn't change and Naomi's confused looked must not have concerned her as she continued "Anyway Ms Wilding, like I said yesterday I need to get back to my department. This job is... beneath what I am capable of." 

"Sure, I'll tell him that." 

"Good."

With that it seemed the conversation was over. Naomi was greatfull. She walked past Mr Blake's office and to the giant doors of Handsome Jack's office. The doors opened automatically for her. 

This time she composed herself. The embarrassing memories of yesterday flashed before her.

She walked straight into the massive office. Handsome Jack was sitting at his desk. 

He either didn't hear the giant doors open (which was unlikely) or was ignoring her (likely). Naomi didn't want to look like an idiot. So she walked down towards his desk and cleared her throat. "Good morning sir." 

He basically didn't move besides from his eyes, which flicked up from screen. Naomi felt awkward as she stopped in front of his desk. He kept typing for a few seconds. Once he seemed happy enough with what he was doing he leaned back into his chair. He looked the same as yesterday. His hair styled backwards in a way that looked effortless but probably took an hour to perfect. 

"You're on time." He simply commented. Before Naomi could respond he continued talking. "So today we're going to get you that Hyperion card. It basically lets you go almost anywhere in the entire building. It's badass. 

"Sounds good, sir." Replied Naomi. 

Handsome Jack got out of the chair causing it to roll backwards slightly. He walked around the desk towards Naomi. He then placed his arm around her shoulders. "To Blake's office."

Naomi had a feeling that Handsome Jack really didn't understand the concept of personal space. Naomi let he lead her out of the office and into Blake's. 

Inside of Blake's office, to one side next to a wall, there was a camera. Blake was nowhere to be found but a young woman was checking the set up. 

The pair walking in caught her attention. She looked up. She had she had short brown hair and glasses pushed up onto her head. She had a blank look on her face as the two approached her. Almost as if she was bored with whatever was happening. 

"Morning Handsome Jack." She greeted. "You must be Naomi" she offered her hand. "I'm Elizabeth but everyone calls me Liz." Commented Liz as they shook hands. 

"Nice to meet you." Smiled Naomi. 

"Liz is the head of media. So whenever I need any photo taken, she's at the ready." Explained Jack. 

"Sounds interesting " Naomi replied. 

"Naomi, we're just going to take your ID photo. So just stand against the wall and look into the camera for me." She instructed. Naomi did as told while Handsome Jack took a seat in the chair behind the desk. 

Naomi smiled at the camera, instantly Liz told her to stop. Liz then took a couple of pictures. "Give me a few minutes and then you can get the ID." 

"That's quick." Naomi was impressed it always takes forever to get and identification. 

"Well this is Hyperion." With that Liz took the camera and left the office. 

Naomi was still leaning against the wall. She felt a bit awkward, especially since her new boss was just staring off into the distance. 

Naomi pushed herself off the wall and walked towards the desk. Blake had a great view from his office as well. 

A few moments of silence passed when suddenly Handsome Jack was standing right next to her. Naomi felt him beside her, his presence startling her. Handsome Jack laughed at her reaction and started talking. 

"After you have your ID you'll get a Hyperion issued echo and laptop. This means you don't use personal Items for work. Clear pumpkin?" He really emphased the don't part. 

"Of course sir." Nodded Naomi.

"Great, kiddo." He grinned. He turned around and sat back down in Blake's chair. 

The room was quiet again. Naomi wasn't sure what had just happened. Luckily for her the silence was interrupted by the sound of Liz entering the office. 

Naomi turned around and saw Liz carrying a lanyard and a card in her hand. "That was quick." 

"It's Hyperion, everything has to be quick." Shrugged Liz. 

From his seat Handsome Jack, commented under his breath. "Not everything." 

Liz rolled her eyes at the comment and before Naomi could react was pushing the cards into her hands. "I'm going to give the abridged version of the lecture I normally give." Naomi nodded unsure what she meant. "Basically, don't lose these and don't let anyone use them." Liz said this with such ease and boredom that it was clear she most have repeated them multiple times. 

"Seems easy." Naomi replied. 

"You would think, but not for everyone." She rolled her eyes at that. "Well that's it from me." She looked towards Handsome Jack. A wave from his hand must have been enough as she started to leave. Over her should she called. "Nice meeting you Naomi." 

"Same here." With that she slammed the door of the office and was gone. 

She finally got to look at her new ID cards. The picture wasn't too bad. Which was good. 

"Now that's over let's get you that echo." Handsome Jack leaped from the chair. He walked to one of the bookshelves lining the walls and opened a drawer. He pulled out an echo and Hyperion brand laptop. Walking back to the desk he placed the tech in front of Naomi. 

The laptop was a bright yellow with a slick H on the top. The echo was also Hyperion branded. Jack walked back to the drawer and grabbed a laptop bag. Which was also Hyperion yellow. Naomi opened the laptop, she was greeted with the login screen. 

"Here ya go kiddo." He passed her a piece of paper. With her password and username. Quickly typing them the laptop let her in. "The laptop connects to the Hyperion server no matter where you are and the echo is for work calls only, same with the laptop." 

"Of course sir," nodded Naomi. 

"Great kiddo." He paused then started again "With the laptop change your password regularly. I had some idiot who used the same password for literally everything. You won't do that now, would you Naomi?" He questioned. 

"No" she simply replied. 

"Good answer, kiddo." He grinned and headed for the exit. Naomi hurriedly shoved the laptop in the bag and the echo in her jacket pocket and followed closely behind him. 

"Anything else I need to know, sir?" Inquired Naomi. 

He seemed to pounder the question for a couple of seconds, he answered with "I take my coffee strong and black."

"Good to know." That wasn't exactly the answer she expected. 

They headed back to Jack's office. Once inside Jack sat back at the desk. Going back to work on his computer. Naomi took that as a cue to go to her office. 

She sat at desk. Not quite sure what to do she went back to sorting out the files and Jack's Schedule. Today was pretty empty, the only notable thing was a phone call for 3:55. The same phone call was slotted in at the same time and same day through his entire calendar. It was strange but meant there was nothing Naomi needed to remind her new boss about. 

About an hour pass when she was interrupted with the loud voice of Handsome Jack. "Coffee. Now kiddo."

Pressing the intercom button "Yes, sir." Walking to the coffee machine she started to make his coffee. It was simple. Black and strong. The coffee was quickly ready. With that Naomi picked up the mug and took it to Jack. She placed it in front of him on his desk. He stopped typing and raised the mug to his lips. Taking a sip, he seemed pleased. Turning in his chair he grabbed a piece of paper from the top of a pile. Handing it to Naomi. 

"These are all the department heads. Memorise it, then I need you to email them all that Handsome Jack will be gracing some of them with surprise inspections." He took another sip of the coffee. 

"It's not a surprise if you tell them, is it?" She questioned. 

He raised his brow at that, almost amused at the comment. “That is true kiddo however I want all of them terrified about the possibility." 

"I'm sure this email will have them shaking in their expensive suits. Anything else sir?" She smiled. 

"That's it for now kiddo." 

With that Naomi nodded and walked back into her office. Sitting at the desk she pulled up her email on the computer. Looking at the sheet he had given her she typed in all the department heads. Writing out the email, making it as threatening as an email from Handsome Jack's PA could be. She found it cool that she even had her own professional signature. With the email finished she pressed sent. 

Little did she know Handsome Jack was watching her computer screen as she wrote. Luckily for her he was impressed with it. 

***

Even though it had only been a few days since Rhys had learnt about his new project. It had felt like an entirety mainly because he was still waiting for all the information about he his team. His impatient waiting would have to be put on hold because it was time for his lunch break. 

Happily getting up from his chair and desk he made his way to Vaughn’s office. Without knocking Rhys opened his door. 

Vaughn was talking into his echo, looking up at Rhys he waved and signalled for him to be quiet. Rhys tip toed to the seat in front of his desk.

“Sir, the accounting department will be fine.” Vaughn rubbed his eyes, clearly tired of the conversation. 

Whatever the person on the other side of the echo was saying. Rhys had no idea.  
“Handsome Jack isn’t going to inspect us. His already done it. Even if he does it’ll be fine.” Vaughn rolled his eyes ate Rhys.

The person on the other side said a couple more things then Vaughn said goodbye and hung up the call.

“What was that about?” asked Rhys.

“Naomi has definitely made a splash with the department heads.”

“What does that mean, Vaughn?”

Vaughn chuckled “All the department heads got an email today informing them of surprise inspections from Mr Handsome Jack himself.”

“That’s it?”

“Well the email has the heads on high alert, mainly because no one can tell if he’s angry or just doing routine checks because of the way his new PA writes her emails.”

“Sounds like Naomi.” Rhys shook his head “So that was your boss?”

“Yep. Anyway you bothering me because you want lunch?”

“You know me too well bro.”

“That’s true.” Vaughn stood from his chair and put on his jacket. “Yvette’s already got a table at that café down the street.”

“Sounds good.”

 

After a delicious lunch Rhys checked his emails. Where waiting for him was an email from Henderson. Reading the email, it became clear to Rhys just how much was involved. He sorta wondered if this had anything to do with Naomi’s email. There wasn’t much to the AI, besides some coding and a visual design. But what this robot was going to be able to do was exciting. Rhys was barely able to contain his joy. Mainly because it seemed he would be getting out of his horrible cubical and getting an actual office, even on a better floor. 

Also attached was a list of candidates for his team. He was allowed to choose anyone he wanted.

The list wasn’t too long. With employees from a whole range of departments. He quickly set to work choosing the best team for the project.


End file.
